15 years ago, the worst year in boxing

[Emon723]

Been following the sport for about 25 years, and i'm talking on the year 1998, which is a bad year in boxing, when mega-fights were not made, and match-ups we wanna see don't happen. Let's review:

Heavyweight division: Holyfield and Lewis were supposed to unify the belts, that year was perfect time for both, but ended up defending their titles against mandatory challengers, Mike Tyson had no fights because of the one-year ban for biting Holyfield.

The exciting welterweight division: the four best fighters, Dela Hoya, Quartey, Whitaker and Trinidad, two of them (Sweet pea and Ike) took a year off, while one (Tito) almost had his career ruined, having problems with Don King.

The only saving grace was Roy Jones taking a legit challenge against Virgil Hill, but RJJ still ended up fighting a middleweight title-holder, 15 pounds less in his weight class before the year ends, from my memory, Shane Mosley won the fighter of the year award and Floyd Mayweather won his first major title that year.

Does anyone thinks there is one whole year in boxing far worst than this.

[Anthony342]

Yeah, most recent years, just pick one. Other than an occasional Mayweather, Pacquiao, or Cotto fight, there's not any big fights most fans care about or casual fans will watch. The Klitschkos are a lot more popular in Europe than the US so a lot of their fights are in Germany. 1998 might have been a bad year, but boxing hadn't quite yet become the fringe sport it is now until maybe when Lennox Lewis retired.

Now that it looks like Pacquiao might be done and Mayweather has maybe 2 or 3 fights left, there's not much in the way of mega fights to look forward to. It seems like HBO PPV is trying to market Cotto, Chavez Jr. or maybe Sergio Martinez, but I doubt they get anywhere near the numbers of a Mayweather. And with Frazier's and Stewart's gyms closing and the lack of any dominant male boxers in the Olympics, it's a sad state of affairs for boxing. As long as there are good, exciting fighters and fights, I'll keep watching though.

[BennyST]

I think this year is shaping to be one that surpasses it. We've already had about 50 major fight cancellations. Actually, it's only been just over a month and I think we've had six or seven. That's enough for one bad year normally and it's only been a month and a half!

[Anthony342]

See? There ya go. There are still always good, talented fighters to watch though, guys that are skilled and/or at least give it their all and are tough and hit hard. I'll still be watching them as long as pro boxing is still around as a sport.

[Emon723]

True, im thinking of 2013 maybe a not-so-good year in boxing, im hoping through on match-ups like Danny Garcia vs Lucas Matthysse to happen, Ward-Pavlik went into smoke, and I doubt if Mayweather-Canelo will push through this year, Floyd only fights once a year.

[SBleeder]

1998 had two exceptional fights between Lopez and Alvarez. That, by itself, made it an outstanding year.

I haven't cared about the heavyweight picture at any time during my life. I don't even recall who was champion then.

[Anthony342]

I heard Floyd wants to fight twice this year, once in May and then in September. I could see him fighting in maybe June then September, but yeah, once or twice a year tops these days.